‘Super commercial’ category in Property Tax withdrawn

From April 1, it will be uniform tax for all commercial properties in Mysuru

Mysore/Mysuru: In a major relief to the business and trading communities of Mysuru, the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) has withdrawn the ‘super commercial’ Property Tax category. In an order issued on Feb. 23, MCC Commissioner G. Lakshmikantha Reddy has stated that uniform rates of taxes will be levied for all commercial properties from April 1.

With the order, curtains have come down on the MCC’s move to levy a special tax that did not exist even in metropolitan cities like Bengaluru. When compared to cities like Bengaluru and Hubballi-Dharwad, commercial property owners in Mysuru paid more tax and this had led to discontentment among the business community.

For 15 years, they were demanding the withdrawal of the ‘super commercial’ category and now the de-classifying of commercial taxes into a single category as ‘commercial’ will ease the tax burden on choultries, cinema theatres, commercial complexes, lodges and other properties.

The Commissioner has stated in his order that the notification on withdrawing the ‘super commercial’ category has been issued in anticipation of approval from the MCC Council.

Earlier, the MCC had categorised the ‘super commercial’ into ‘commercial B’ by retaining the other properties in ‘commercial A’ but the tax rate remained the same and did not help property owners.

According to the data provided to Star of Mysore by Mysuru Hotel Owners Association President C. Narayanagowda, in 2002, the MCC levied 0.6 percent tax under ‘super commercial’ category while the actual tax slab rate was 0.5 percent. In 2007 it levied 1.5 percent instead of the tax slab rate of 0.9 percent.

In 2010, the commercial property owners had to pay 1.725 percent ‘super commercial’ tax instead of the actual 1.035 percent as per the commercial tax slab rate. In 2014, property owners paid 1.984 percent instead of the actual 1.1903 percent and in 2017, while the actual commercial tax slab rate was 1.3688 percent, the property owners had to pay 2.2816 percent under the ‘super commercial’ category. In 2021, the actual commercial tax slab rate was 1.317 percent but under the ‘super commercial’ category, the tax slab was fixed at 1.707 percent.

Questioning the ‘super commercial’ tax category, property owners had approached the Karnataka High Court and hearing the case, the Court had directed the MCC Commissioner to discuss the tax category with property owners and withdraw the same. “The Court has honoured our relentless fight for justice,” Narayanagowda said, thanking all the elected representatives and officers who had supported their cause.

In a press release, Federation of Organisations and Associations of Mysuru (FOAM) President B. S. Prashanth said that the ‘super commercial’ category property tax has been a burden to entrepreneurs for many years. Now the MCC has announced the withdrawal of this classification and this is the result of a consistent struggle of organisations and associations in Mysuru, he said.